I know, no one voted me the local press corps cop, but periodically, I feel the need to step into the breach and whack my fellow Fourth Estaters upside the head. Particularly when their errors mar a story I care deeply about.

Such is the case with an Associated Press news item on the recent sentencing of 13 of those who protested Senate Bill 1070 on July 29, 2010, outside Sheriff Joe Arpaio's infamous Fourth Avenue Jail.

Not only did the AP get it wrong, the error belittled the courageous acts of civil disobedience performed by those men and women.

Stephen Lemons

See anyone "beating" on the bay door in the background of this pic from July 29, 2010? That's because it didn't happen.

On that hot Thursday in July, I was proud to be in the streets with them, and I witnessed firsthand the demonstrators' defiance of a law that has as its stated intent making "attrition through enforcement" Arizona's immigration policy. Essentially, those buzzwords translate into plain English as "drive the Latinos out."

The law officially went into effect July 29 of last year, and despite District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton's enjoining the most troubling aspects of the statute, portions of it remain in place, including that bigoted "intent."

Bolton's enjoinder was upheld by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and Governor Jan Brewer is appealing the Ninth's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brewer owes her 2010 election victory to the signing of that bill, which was pimped primarily by current state Senate President Russell Pearce, now the subject of a November 8 recall election in Legislative District 18.

As a result, the guv has to go through the motions, even if it is highly unlikely that the Supremes, should they bother to grant review, will strip the federal government of its complete authority over immigration, ceding it to 50 state governments to cook up their own versions, no matter how crackpot.

SB 1070 has spawned similar bills in other states, and these mutant offspring mostly have been waylaid by federal judges.

Still, 1070 remains the paterfamilias of this hideous brood, an icon of un-Americanism that has made Arizona synonymous with backwardness and redneck hatred of furriners. Particularly if those furriners have brown skin.

Massive marches and acts of civil disobedience already had occurred prior to 1070's enactment. The state Capitol became the focus of demonstrators, most of them Arizonans. But some came from across America, and even from other countries, to attend.

The largest of these happened May 29, 2010, when tens of thousands walked to the Capitol in a demonstration organized in large part by Phoenix civil rights group Puente.

Mexican-American recording artist Jenni Rivera summed up the sentiments of the marchers during a performance she gave on a large stage, with the Capitol dome as a backdrop.

"They're trying to discriminate, to single us out," she declared. "They're haters, baby."

One month earlier, as 1070 sat on Brewer's desk awaiting her signature, nine brave student activists chained themselves to the old Capitol building.

Capitol police employed bolt cutters to free them. They later were led away in handcuffs and into the custody of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

As they waited to be taken to jail, they at one point began to sing the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome." An inspiring moment, one that raised gooseflesh on this cynical scribe's neck.

Such selfless acts and spirited protests fueled the most effective backlash to 1070 in the form of an economic boycott of the state, one that persists today, albeit anemically.

The actual dollars-and-cents impact of the boycott is difficult to categorize, given the recession under which Arizona labors, and the undisputed fact that thousands of Latinos have fled Sand Land in fear.

Yet, there has been one major fallout from the brouhaha over 1070: The business community joined the rebellion, with 60 CEOs and business owners signing a public letter to Pearce earlier this year announcing their opposition to another round of anti-immigrant legislation.

In other words, these captains of capitalism finally had realized a central truth of our age. That the stigma of bigotry — real or perceived — is bad for the bottom line.

Where the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce had remained neutral on 1070 in 2010, these entities joined, a year later, the chorus of those denouncing anti-immigrant legislation proposed by Pearce and his nativist allies.

As a result, five such bills went down to defeat in the Pearce-led Senate.

Had there been no pushback on 1070 — no protests, no boycott, no marches or symbolic lawbreaking — you can be certain that the CEOs and the chambers representing them would not have felt their profit margins threatened.

These are individuals more concerned with accounts receivable than morality. Nevertheless, the moral stance of the anti-1070 movement forced them to respond.

Bringing us to the AP article, and its minimizing of the historic events of July 29, 2010.

That article dutifully reported that 13 of the more than 70 protesters arrested that day were sentenced on August 23 to a day in jail for failure to obey deputies' orders as they stood before the giant metal doors of the Fourth Avenue Jail's central booking bay.

The AP's first inaccuracy states that these protesters' arrests took place on a day when "dozens of protesters took to Phoenix streets."

You could say dozens were arrested. But there were hundreds in the streets that day.

Protesters even took over a section of Washington Street in front of the Wells Fargo Tower, where Sheriff Joe Arpaio keeps his executive offices. Read the proverbial riot act, most dispersed to the sides, but several protesters refused to leave and were arrested by Phoenix police.

I was a witness to all this, as I was the arrest of the Fourth Avenue demonstrators, several of whom had locked their arms together with PVC pipe, in a move known in activist circles as a "sleeping dragon."

Some of the protesters were clergy with the Unitarian Universalist Association, including its president, Reverend Peter Morales, and Phoenix's Reverend Susan Frederick-Gray. All practiced non-violent civil disobedience in the finest tradition of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

That's why the AP's line describing the demonstrators as "massed outside one of Arpaio's jails, beating on a metal door and forcing sheriff's deputies to call for backup" is so ludicrous.

Heck, I was standing between that sleeping dragon and the metal doors, when the MCSO ordered everyone, including the press, away. The demonstrators, of course, remained.

Before the doors opened and deputies grabbed the demonstrators, along with some bystanders, no one was "beating" on those doors. Indeed, Sean Larkin and Antonio Bustamante, lawyers for some of the defendants in this case, told me that such a claim was never made in court by the prosecutors.

After the mass arrests, the MCSO deputies pushed the crowd back, away from the doors. Once the MCSO retreated, there may have been some door-banging or thrown water bottles, but the demonstrators arrested beforehand were not involved in that.

Since they received credit for time served, the protesters fulfilled their sentences by spending the night in Arpaio's main gulag on the evening of their arrests.

Ironically, when these protesters were found guilty, Arpaio gloated via Twitter, even though the sheriff is perhaps the most notorious unindicted criminal in the state.

Journalism is written in dust and lasts about as long. Though the AP story was reproduced in countless publications, history will make the final pronouncement.

So, when future generations study 1070 and its aftermath, they will know who stood up against 1070, Sheriff Arpaio and Sand Land's nativism, and how that defiance changed the present day.

Is this law Racist? Are the people who agree with this law racist?Are those who want this law enforced racist?The law says nothing of little "brown" people but it explains what is illegal entry. It's not very hard to understand. Why is this law "broken"? Why can it be selectively ignored?Illegal alien includes all people who entered illegally, could be Croation, Russian, Chinese, Irish, Canadians. No one single race or people is referenced in the law. Under Title 8 Section 1325 of the U.S. Code, "Improper Entry by Alien," any citizen of any country other than the United States who:Enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers; or Eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers; or Attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact; has committed a federal crime.Violations are punishable by criminal fines and imprisonment for up to six months. Repeat offenses can bring up to two years in prison. Additional civil fines may be imposed at the discretion of immigration judges, but civil fines do not negate the criminal sanctions or nature of the offense.

PHOENIX - A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit accusing the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office of discrimination, negligence and abuse during a worksite enforcement raid.

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen McNamee issued a ruling that dismissed the suit on the grounds the Sheriff's Office and county administrators did not know of, participate in or authorize any unconstitutional conduct during the February 2009 raid on a Phoenix landscaping firm.

Celia Alvarez was among the 40 people arrested on suspicion of identity theft and fraud claimed in her lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office that she was subjected to unreasonable search and seizure and was injured by a deputy during the raid.

Sherrif Joe is one of a few law enforcement individuals who understands a simple fact: "illegal immigrant" = an individual who is not in the United States legally. Being that the "illegal immigrant" has broken our (and Barrack Hussien Obwama's) Federal Immigration Laws and entered the United States through illegal means, he / she is subject to a crime and as such, he / she is subject to deportation. Is that difficult to understand?

Stephen lemons,IDO NOT KNOW WHY YOU STAY IN THE U.S. IF YOU CAN NOT ABIDE BY THE LAWS.Move to Mexico with the rest of the RABBLE.It seems you like these people more than AMERICANS.In the old days i think they might have called it TREASON.aLL YOU ARE DOING IS HIDING BEHIND THE RAG YOU WORK FOR.

This is the full text of SB1070. It clearly and consistently refers back to Federal Immigration law on every point. It does not exceed it, merely implements its practical application and is addressed specifically to probable cause and the commission of crimes. If anyone here has specific examples of how it's being misused, that may be another issue with law enforcement. I am certainly no fan of Arpaio, but this is actually a mirror of federal law as it has existed for decades and needs to be enforced if we want to ever find our way back to having a free and representative society. If not, then what lies ahead will get very ugly indeed. Some of you perhaps enjoy having your pockets picked and losing even more rights as citizens give way to looters and thugs, both in our federal socialist government and outside of it.

Pearce should simply resign, but the powers to be that control the state of Arizona won't let that happen. It's time for him to retire and let the next generation who has to pay for all his regime's damage take over.

Sherrif Joe is one of a few law enforcement individuals who understands a simple fact: "illegal immigrant" = an individual who is not in the United States legally. Being that the "illegal immigrant has broken our Federal Immigration Laws and entered the United States through illegal means, he / she is subject to a crime and as such, he / she is subject to deportation. Is that difficult to understand?

Restitutiontouscitizensfirst!: Probably a real poster. Employing the “They Took Our Jobs!” Offense, yet even citizens won’t or can’t take certain jobs. Angry local idiot with a shotgun, sittin’ on his front poach. Also doesn’t like the sound of Native Spanish Speakers botching up the English Language.

RJ: Another plant. Tries to validate SB1070 with the “criminals should be deported” cry. Goes to the extreme by assuming someone on the Left is automatically racist. Shame!

Tazzz: More of the “criminal” mantra. Ho Hum.

Mrgrnjn: Same as above.

Chip: Good attempt by implying that “criminal” “illegals” don’t have the right to be civilly disobedient . . . as if only citizens have the right to disobedient. Bit Hypocrite, this one.

1080Supporter: Off the deep end with “Have you ever had an illegal break into your home and rape your sister?” No. Have you? (I hope you are seeing a Psychiatrist, for this and other things. Many other things.)

CT: Thinks that it is only the undocumented, the non-citizens, who suck money out of the treasuries . . . excludes those lazy citizens. Uses loaded terms to assume “illegals” are “lazy”.

Catmando: Probably real, but toothless. Creatively uses “law breakers” instead of “criminals”. Employs typical mantra question “What if one broke in you YOUR house?” Gee. Did one break into yours? I doubt it in a pig’s eye.

John Swanson also said . . . in 1775, to the Patriots: "I don't know why ye continue to stay in the colonies if you cannot abide by the law of King George."|Brain-washed Idiot Troll. Go ahead . . . keep using that "Rule of Law" argument, only try it on King Russell on why he posted "illegal" signs, tries to outguess the intention of the authors of the 14th Amendment, and tries to teach the Arizona Supreme Court how to interpret Arizona Law. We see right through you and all you other Pearce supporting clowns.Nothing . . . nothing is going to stop the removal of Russell Pearce from public office. His days are numbered. He is toast.

Treason is correct. The insanity of it is that Big Government and Big Business are intent on destroying the tax base that even made them possible - they simply do not need humans anymore for their financial manipulations - cuz they've gone global. Human ideation such as loyalty, empathy, any of the good qualities of humanity are only for little people indulgence as we are poised on the edge of genocide of the USAmerican people. Not drama - people are dying like flies right now from lack of medical care, especially those at the wrong end of life - just for starters. The biggest example I can give contemporarily is the 911 First Responders who are classified as mentally ill in order to deny their medical care and not even allowed to their own memorial ceremony because their presence, with their breathing machines and other medical paraphenalia is an inconvenient truth exposing the lies proving that we are all slaves for the profit of a few. No wonder the prison mentality permeates the culture at large of this nation. No wonder the skulls of our deceased have been decorating the clothing of our youth the last few years - how much of this is created for us and how much is natural outgrowth of the criminal stressors on us as a people, culture, nation? I vote for contrived.

I thought this guy explains fairly well.

"Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult"

The illegal situation is merely a contemporary contrivance of an old trick used throughout history to destroy nations and is intentional no question, not an unintended consequence of collective greed to the point of stupidity and therefore those who support are correctly called treasonous and I note that I am no longer the only person calling this genocide. The Mexican people calling for war and screaming racism are the lowest common denominator and both intellectually as well as culturally inferior for being willfully unable to recognize the truth - just like a screaming 2 year old throwing a tantrum who needs a spanking. Plenty of Mexican descent citizens ready willing and able to give them that spanking who currently have no voice.

No one gives a shit about the text of the law. It's the aftereffects that are important.While the world burns, I am sure you will be giving speeches on a soapbox as people run past you and knock you to the sidewalk.Pearce Robot!

Mirror Federal law? Nope. You need to spend some time reading federal law.

Also, show where Russell Pearce's favorite part "attrition" is mentioned in federal law? Arizona is a State. They cannot declare war or decide on matters that relate to other Nations.

Why doesn't Pearce care about the child abuse, deaths and murders of children in Az? It is one of the highest in the Nation and is killing many more children then undocumented immigrants are, Immigration gets way more press, tax dollars and resources (both federal and State) The State could do many things instead of cutting programs that work to fund more border nonsense.

1070 has cost this State millions in desperately needed revenue and that isn't even counting the boycotts. Pearce is proud the attrition part is working but the people leaving are mexican citizens with small businesses and families also. It is destroying our economy and our soul.

You forgot one - loushow: Tries to marginalize people she doesn't know by demeaning their opinions and even their very existence - all because she disagrees with them and has no intelligent counter-argument. Somehow thinks that open borders, surrendering citizens' rights to criminals, and calling anyone who dares to disagree a "racist" ends any legitimate argument. Clueless.

The law says that anyone who breaks it, is a criminal! Sorry if that upsets you. I'm not trying to upset anyone, the only thing i'm saying is there a legal way to be in this country and it would be easier if they just did it that way.

I am embarassed and humiliated by the weaklings in my family who succumb to pressure to speak accented English due to the negative pressure they feel from the Mexican community to identify themselves as like them - fresh across the line without any of the advantages they have had as US citizens and needing to pretend that English is their second language instead of their first. Just as I am embarassed by my African descent relations, raised in Europe, comes to the US and has to pick up Ebonics to be accepted. Just as I am embarassed by the hillbillies that were raised in NYC. It is their shame, their weakness, but somehow I am embarassed for them that their self-identity is so weak that they feel it necessary to do this. It is also a painful reflection on US culture at large and the fact that the pride our ancestors felt has been purposely destroyed by powerful forces that have no respect for human life or any morality but their bottom line financial gain - we have been duped and used for generations and the fact that plain old assimilated USAmerican is no longer acceptable or sufficient for social acceptance is our behavior exemplifying that part of each and every one of us which knows that what I am saying is true.

Or hey, rather than using sudo sike-ology why don't you present a better theory to explain this phenomenon?

That does not make me a "poach" monkey with a shotgun. It is also a very effective, truthful and very accurate portrayal of the negative pressure placed on the community at large by the illegal brown power movement. Those who are not lazy-minded can figure out who the bullies are.

This has been done before - it is an old trick of the very wealthy manipulators. But when we faced these issues in the past we did not self-sabotage with a social conscience towards the others at the expense of our own. That is a relatively new invention in terms of human history.

Soul? AZ economy has always been screwy. The soulless have always run the economy and the state so don't put that on people who are just trying to survive - I am still evaluating politicians' true intent, hindsight. Our economy has always sucked for those of us who aren't trust fund babies and I would attribute the high suicide rate, the high child abuse rate, the high child deaths and murders to the low wages and no benefits situation caused by being a right-to-work state and exacerbated by the wedge placed by millionaires and illegals working in tandem to displace even more citizens. Add the current world economy to the mix and we are a tinder box and I've seen plenty of white boys who wanna be working and know how to roof being displaced by illegals doing the roofing jobs subsequent that last big storm and ohhh I am just waiting for the anger to spike into violence. You can't put this all on Pearce just like you can't rewrite history and blame Obama for the economy.

psshhhhhttttt! Low-wage jobs and penny ante purchases do not create that much revenue - and I think that you claiming the state of AZ is declaring war is pretty hysterical on your behalf. And as far as our federal government goes - they have excluded themselves from having any positive relevance to the citizens of these United States - they are busy with their own collective insanity and with improving their wealth status. They have relegated themselves to the sidelines with their impotence and we need to be done with all of them. They have abdicated the throne shall we say? They are toast and lots of folks are itching to roast them. So rather than seceding from the union state by state I think we states would be well advised to secede Washington DC from the union - for starters.

If you make a claim, back it up. Where does it exceed federal law? WHY is it costing AZ? It is saving millions and lowering the crime rate, but the dems in DC who pander to these folks for votes want to make sure it costs us plenty in phony lawsuits so they can be seen as the heroes, in spite of the fact that they do everything to disrespect Latinos and betray the legal citizens of this country. You should spend some time reading the Constitution as well as federal immigration law and see how these idiots in DC use their double standard to keep people fighting like you see here. Do you really think the feds care a whit about these people? Look at what they did with the Gunrunner operation! They think they are above the law and have gotten people killed with their reckless and felonious behavior. AZ is trying hard to stay out of the same shithole that has bankrupted CA with their amnesty programs that just encourage the bleeding of an economy.

Calling a racist a racist is the correct thing to do. I realize racists don't like it but it doesn't matter if its true. Pearce is a racist and the racist lobbying firm FAIR wrote this law. They also lobbied to get it in all States. Despite all the money and bribing of politicians like Pearce-they were unsuccessful. Only 17 States ever considered it. The 2 States that passed something similar are regretting it.

Fact: White will mean you are a minority soon. The republicans want to change that. This law through "attrition" was an attempt. Thats why Pearce hates the Dream act students so much. It makes no difference to him if they were brought here as babies.

"the fact that plain old assimilated USAmerican is no longer acceptable"

No need to speak in code. Call it European-descended White American culture.

I am really tired of European-descended White Americans carrying on like they are discriminated against and put upon. When they put your ass on a reservation like San Carlos or Shiprock, I will pay attention. When they pass a law saying a White counts as 3/5 of a human being, I will pay attention. Until then, you really need to STFU.

I know many people who have been criminally victimized by illegals - and yes raped, and yes killed. Your implication that anybody who states that illegal aliens commit crimes needs to see a psychiatrist is a real cheap shot. Ignorant, classless and shows inferior intellect attempting to appeal to other inferior intellects.

Even the 911 First Responders are classified as mentally ill, because the government does not want to pay for their health care so for me I have gotten to the point that it is a huge red flag of not only inferior intellect but that you have come to the fight with no weapons at all. Years ago it was known that the evil Soviet Union put intellectual dissidents in mental hospitals or "re-education camps" but here in the US today everybody who has something valid to say is instantly marginalized with that same cheap shot, for decades now. Can't you be a little more creative in your assault on truth?

In other words, you have just been refuted by none other than Jesus H. Christ and now have nothing to fall back on except your dumbass anti-government soundbites. That, and throwing around the word "traitor."

True I am shocked at how effective the socially engineered thought stopping cliche' of racism has permeated so many otherwise seemingly intelligent people, which is why we must continue to present reason as often as we are able. If anyone around here is a paid troll - this is the guy. I agree with your last statement. The states need to get together and secede Washington from the union. Ha ha.

Hoping for a rational intelligent response from this poor excuse for a neanderthal might be the new definition of insanity. All he knows how to do is throw bombs. This discussion has run its course. If this moron is representative of voters in this country, there is not much hope left for the USA as a free and civilized society. What they don't realize is that when you finally succeed in helping to tear down that upon which you relied for your existence, you have nothing left yourself. The pandering politicians and their cohorts are stealing the wealth of this country and leaving ALL of us to fight over the crumbs.

I understand plenty about the law, including that there are bad laws and that in too many cases the word "lawyer" is synonymous with the word "liar." Weimar here we come! Brown shirts, red shirts, black shirts. . . . we are ripe for plucking with trolls like you who have learned 2 $3 words that you think makes you suddenly an authority. Or just because you can cut & paste means you comprehend the full implications. So what do you think of Citizens United? And who will you intend to vote for come '12?

If you believe this federal government (you know, the same one that executed Operation Gunrunner as an end run around the Second Amendment and got people on both sides of the border killed?), then you are the biggest jackass here and should just crawl back under the rock you sprouted from and STFU. Asshole. You think this bunch of traitors are doing this for "humanitarian" reasons? They are doing what they always do - buying votes from half-wits who are too blind to see that they are being used! You seriously need your meds now, dear.

Just because it is written in legal language does not make it right. There are plenty of criminal laws and plenty of criminal interpretation and application of laws. They are just covering their globalist butts - that's all. Plenty of examples in recent years of legal opinion written to justify criminality - this is just one of many.

LOL. From the same crowd that thinks there's a law saying citizens must carry ID with them at all times.

OK, you dumb fat bitch, here are some excerpts from the federal gubmints lawsuit against 1070. You know, the one that got the stupid thing enjoined?

1) "The mandatory nature of Section 2, in tandem with S.B. 1070’s new or amended state immigration crimes, directs officers to seek maximum scrutiny of a person’s immigration status, and mandates the imposition of state criminal penalties for what is effectively unlawful presence, even in circumstances where the federal government has decided not to impose such penalties because of federal enforcement priorities or humanitarian, foreign policy, or other federal interests."

2) "Further, because the federal authorities may not be able to immediately verify lawful presence – and may rarely have information related to stopped U.S. citizens – Section 2 will result in the prolonged detention of lawfully present aliens and United States citizens. Section 2 of S.B. 1070 will therefore impose burdens on lawful immigrants and U.S. citizens alike who are stopped, questioned, or detained and cannot readily prove their immigration or citizenship status, including those individuals who may not have an accepted form of identification because, for example, they are legal minors without a driver’s license. Arizona’s alien inspection scheme therefore will subject lawful aliens to the “possibility of inquisitorial practices and police surveillance.""

3) "Section 3 – the enforcement of which S.B. 1070 effectively mandates through operation of Section 2’s alien inspection and verification regime – demands the arrest and prosecution of all aliens who do not have certain enumerated registration documents. But several classes of aliens who are eligible for humanitarian relief are simply not provided with registration documents while their status is being adjudicated by the federal government, notwithstanding the federal government’s knowledge that these aliens are present in the United States. S.B. 1070 thus seeks to criminalize aliens whose presence is known and accepted by the federal government (at least during the pendency of their status review) and thereby conflicts with and otherwise stands as an obstacle to the full purposes and objectives of Congress in providing certain forms of humanitarian relief."

4) "Arizona’s alien smuggling prohibition is preempted by federal law, including 8 U.S.C. § 1324. There are several key differences between the federal and Arizona alien smuggling provisions that demonstrate that Arizona’s alien smuggling prohibition actually regulates conditions of unlawful presence and not smuggling at all. First, Arizona’s alien smuggling law, unlike the federal criminal provisions, is not limited to transportation that is provided “in furtherance” of unlawful immigration, but instead prohibits the knowing provision of any commercial transportation services to an alien unlawfully present in the United States. Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-2319(A). Second, unlike federal law, Arizona’s alien smuggling law not only criminalizes the conduct of the transportation provider but has been used, in conjunction with Arizona’s conspiracy statute, to prosecute the unlawfully present alien. Third, Arizona’s smuggling provision is not targeted at smuggling across the United States’ international borders. As a result of these differences, taken both separately and in tandem, Arizona’s smuggling prohibition regulates the conditions of an alien’s entry and continued presence in the United States, by essentially banning an unlawfully present alien from using commercial transportation. Although a state is free, in certain instances, to regulate conduct that is not regulated by the federal government, the differences between Section 4 and federal anti-smuggling law convert Arizona’s alien smuggling prohibitions into a preempted regulation of immigration. Additionally, Arizona’s smuggling prohibition will result in special, impermissible burdens for lawfully present aliens, who will predictably be impeded from using commercial transportation services due to the strictures of Section 4. Arizona’s smuggling prohibition thus conflicts with and otherwise stands as an obstacle to the full purposes and objectives of Congress in creating a comprehensive system of penalties for aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States."

5) "Section 6 makes no exception for aliens whose removability has already been resolved by federal authorities, despite the fact that only the federal government can actually issue removal decisions. Section 6 will therefore necessarily result in the arrest of aliens based on out-of-state crimes, even if the criminal and immigration consequences of the out­ of-state crime have already been definitively resolved. For that reason, as with Section 2, Section 6 of S.B. 1070 interferes with the federal government’s enforcement prerogatives and will necessarily impose burdens on lawful aliens in a manner that conflicts with the purposes and practices of the federal immigration laws. Additionally, Section 6 will result in the arrest of aliens whose out-of-state crimes would not give rise to removal proceedings at all."

And most importantly,

6) "S.B. 1070 pursues only one goal – “attrition” – and ignores the many other objectives that Congress has established for the federal immigration system. And even in pursuing attrition, S.B. 1070 disrupts federal enforcement priorities and resources that focus on aliens who pose a threat to national security or public safety. If allowed to go into effect, S.B. 1070’s mandatory enforcement scheme will conflict with and undermine the federal government’s careful balance of immigration enforcement priorities and objectives. For example, it will impose significant and counterproductive burdens on the federal agencies charged with enforcing the national immigration scheme, diverting resources and attention from the dangerous aliens who the federal government targets as its top enforcement priority. It will cause the detention and harassment of authorized visitors, immigrants, and citizens who do not have or carry identification documents specified by the statute, or who otherwise will be swept into the ambit of S.B. 1070’s “attrition through enforcement” approach. It will conflict with longstanding federal law governing the registration, smuggling, and employment of aliens. It will altogether ignore humanitarian concerns, such as the protections available under federal law for an alien who has a well-founded fear of persecution or who has been the victim of a natural disaster. And it will interfere with vital foreign policy and national security interests by disrupting the United States’ relationship with Mexico and other countries."

See, there you go again, can't make a legitimate fact-based argument , so you resort to name calling. Your mother must be proud.

The police are not chasing landscapers, they are asking legal status WHEN THEY STOP PEOPLE IN THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME! Do you even live here? You obviously don't know what's going on. The cops are turning over the illegals to the INS for deportation - that is, when Napolitano et al allow them to do their job.

You didn't back up a thing - maybe you had trouble with the third grade, when I understood all of this without it being explained to me. Yes, illegals cost us billions in all sorts of services, from healthcare to jobs, welfare, food stamps and education. Here's Ron Paul explaining it for you, maybe you will understand it from him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

How stupid are you? Really. I guess I'm going to have to do this really slow for you.

I explained in pretty basic terms even a slow 9th grader could comprehend.

Why is it costing Az? Because bad laws have a tendency to do that. But don't listen to me. Check with The Arizona Chamber of Commerce who begged Pearce to back-off other immigration laws this year. They are not exactly liberals sweetheart. Ask them how much 1070 has cost this state. They were neutral when it passed and regret it openly now.

Also, who pays for the enforcement of a State law? The feds? Nope. It costs big money to put everyone in jail that is suspected of being here without papers. Thats a cop that is not keeping us safe because his hands are now tied chasing landscapers and dishwashers.

If you hate the government so much why defend a law because it looks sort of like a federal law? Maybe its you that should try "mirroring" for a while. Look in one. You're a racist idiot and you don't even know why.

As even my teenage son (who is not white) often says, the word is so overused, it has no meaning anymore. When you disagree with a person's opinion of how to handle a situation and the first thing you do is call them a racist, that is somehow supposed to prove your argument. It doesn't. In this case, it just proves you are ignorant. I apply the same standard and expectations to everyone, regardless of race. If you don't, that makes you the racist, doesn't it?

Wake up! The law is only for lowly wage slaves - corporations, banksters and government officials break the laws all the time which renders ALL LAW UNJUST AND POORLY WRITTEN if the application of the law is selective.

WWJD? THROW THE MONEY CHANGERS OUT OF THE TEMPLE! But nooooooo, we get Citizens United! Thanks Christian Right! You truly represent the lovers of humanity with your choices!

PANTS ON THE GROUND! PANTS ON THE GROUND! US CHRISTIANS GOT THEIR PANTS ON THE GROUND!

Okay dude whatever! Do wrong and you are a criminal, bottom line. Sorry if it upsets you but the law is the law and if you don't like it then that sucks to be you!!! Being here without proof makes it illegal! Why is that a problem with you people?!?!?!?!?!?

You are talking about countrified in a deaming manner? Most country people, farmers,etc. know how to do real things, unlike you. They have more brains in their pinky then you have in your whole muddled by leftists head.

I am fighting the cartoon characterization of the illegal Mexican who only comes here to work - with the truth. Some of the most rabid defenders of the illegal Mexican Civil Rights to illegally be here and illegally take jobs that belong to citizens first have never even met a Mexican, much less an illegal one. I like that dontchakno though.

Like I said their is a legal way to be here bottom line! You people are using racism ( saying that they are just targeting "Mexicans") to break the law! The majority of people who are here(in Arizona) illegally are Mexican. If there were any other race doing it they would target that group of people as well! I find it funny that they aren't even citizens and they are mad cause the police arresting them for BREAKING THE LAW; but here I am a Black-American citizen (haven't done anything wrong to get arrested my whole life! And still haven't been yet.) and its okay for the police to racial profile me!?! But hey I shouldn't go there cause everybody else can use the "race card" and its suppose to be okay!?!?!!!!

I know many people who have been criminally victimized by U.S. citizens - and yes raped, and yes killed. [The vast majority of victims in the U.S. are victimized by U.S. citizens, dontchakno.] Your implication that anybody who states that U.S. citizens commit crimes needs to see a psychiatrist is a real cheap shot. Ignorant, classless and shows inferior intellect attempting to appeal to other inferior intellects. [Like restitutiontouscitizensfirst!]